http://www.malaya.com.ph/aug05/envi1.htm
Bulacan Governor Josefina dela Cruz has joined forces with environment groups in opposing a controversial landfill project in the municipality of Norzagaray near the Ipo Dam watershed.
In a letter sent to the Ecowaste Coalition, Dela Cruz conveyed the support of her administration to the position taken by the Coalition against the questionable grant of Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) by the DENR Region III to Waste Custodial Management for the establishment of an 18-hectare landfill in Sitio Tiacad, Barangay San Mateo, Norzagaray, Bulacan.
It will be recalled that 18 groups belonging to the Ecowaste Coalition wrote to Dela Cruz and the Bulacan Provincial Board to signify their strong opposition to the landfill project.
Signing the letter were the representatives of Archdiocese of Manila Ecology Desk, Bangon Kalikasan Movement, Buklod Tao Foundation, Cavite Green Coalition, Concerned Citizens Against Pollution, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Health Care Without Harm, Institute for Educational and Ecological Alternatives, Montalban Environmental Protection and Develoment Council, Miriam PEACE, Mother Earth Foundation, November 17 Movement, Pesticide Action Network Sanib-Lakas ng Inang Kalikasan, Sining Yapak, and Zero Waste Philippines.
De la Cruz and the environmental groups scored the company’s failure to obtain ECC before undertaking site preparation activities in violation of Section 38, Article 6 of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2002, which requires ECC to be secured prior to any site preparation and construction of a new waste facility.
The Bulacan provincial government also echoed the groups’ concerns about the landfill threats to the environment, which is situated near the Ipo Dam and, as pointed out by the Laguna Lake Development Authority, is a watershed. RA 9002 prohibits the construction or operation of landfills or any waste disposal facility on any aquifer, groundwater reservoir or watershed.
Landfills, according to the coalition, produce toxic garbage juice or leachate that can contaminate groundwater or surfacewater supplies with chemical pollutants such as heavy metals. Even with a liner, landfills will eventually leak and threaten the water supply. The coalition added that landfills generate large quantities of methane, a major contributor to the "greenhouse effect," which is driving climate change.
Bulacan provincial officials assailed the lack of proper briefing on the details of the project, and likewise bewailed the contractor’s lack of track record in the field of sanitary landfill.
"For the record, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has passed a resolution opposing the dumping of Metro Manila garbage in Bulacan. It is the concern of the Provincial Government of Bulacan to ensure that Waste Custodial Management will not violate this position," De la Cruz said
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